ABSTRACT
Each year millions of females develop serious mental illnesses (SMI), which are major risk factors for suicides. Using the Web-Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) for the years 2000, 2010 and 2020, we found in 2020 9,428 females (almost 190/week) committed suicide, losing 328,653 years off potential life before age 80 years. There were pronounced increases in female suicides from 2000 to 2020 across all racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of suicides were in non-Hispanic white females, but the highest rate of suicides was in non-Hispanic American Indians /Alaska Natives, and in females 15-24 years of age. The West had the highest female suicide rates, with methods used to commit suicides varying by census regions and race and ethnicity. Suffocation to commit suicide increased for most racial and ethnic groups and poisonings decreased for most groups between 2000 and 2020, These underscore the need for targeted primary prevention of suicides for females based on age, geographic location and method of suicide, to mitigate female suicides improved access (e.g. geographically and financially) to mental health care services is essential.
ABSTRACT
There is a dearth of population studies regarding law enforcement officers (LEOs) use of fatal force against teenagers. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to characterize the teens most likely to be killed, the methods used to fatally injure teenagers, the geographic distribution of the killings, and the years of potential life lost before the age of 80 years (YPLL80) due to LEO interactions. Data from the Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were analyzed for the years 2010-2020. LEOs killed 330 teenagers; most were males (94.2%) and 6 of 7 teens (84.5%) were shot. The teens killed were disproportionately older teens ages 18-19 years (64.2%) and non-Hispanic Blacks (45.8%) who were usually killed in metropolitan areas (90.0%). The rate of teenage killings by LEOs significantly increased (267%) over the time frame studied. A total of 20,575 YPLL80 were lost and they significantly increased over time (263%). Mitigation of teenagers killed by LEOs will require transforming policing through policy changes (e.g. hiring and training) over an extended period of time. Also, the public needs education, (e.g. funding, interactions) regarding policing.
Subject(s)
Law Enforcement , Police , Male , Humans , Adolescent , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Cross-Sectional Studies , PolicyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/ PURPOSE: There is a dearth of studies that have examined unintentional firearm-related mortality in African-American (AA) youths. The purpose of this article is to assess the epidemiology of unintentional firearm mortality in AA youth, examine the risk factors associated with unintentional AA youth firearm mortality, and explore the evidence for preventing unintentional firearm-mortality in AA youths. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, the Web-Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was used. Data were analyzed from the years 2010-2019 using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Between the years 2010 and 2019, the AA youth unintentional firearm mortality rate increased by 48% while the rate for White youths declined by 29%. The decade from 2010 to 2019 saw almost 400 AA youths lose their lives to unintentional firearm trauma. AA male children averaged 87% of all AA unintentional firearm deaths during this time. The years of potential life lost due to unintentional firearm mortality ranged between 21,200 and 24,300 years. The risk factors for unintentional firearm mortality in AA youths include living in states with high rates of firearm ownership, living in a home with firearms, being an older adolescent, and being of lower socioeconomic status. Of all the strategies to prevent unintentional firearm mortality in youths, the most effective include strong (felony penalty) Child Access Prevention laws, the absence of Stand-Your-Ground laws, and physicians engaging in anticipatory guidance with patients regarding safe storage of firearms. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the limited scale of unintentional firearm mortality in AA youths, primary prevention dictates that public health professionals intervene to keep this public health problem from becoming an epidemic and a larger contributor to health disparities.
